6 or so years ago JPMC was caught red handed with fraud involving mortgages. Hard to believe, but it happened. As a result, they had to pay a $25B fine. As part of the settlement, the Feds agreed that JPMC could reduce the fine by offering loan forgiveness to customers underwater. For every dollar they gave to consumers their debt to the government would be reduced by that amount.

Seems easy enough, right? So, JPMC did what you would expect them to do - they started to forgive loans. There was only one small catch. They didn't forgive loans they actually held. Instead they forgave loans that had been sold to other companies. And they wrote that money off against what they owed the Feds. And no, I'm not making this up.

This reads like something I could have written because I have the same questions: how is this not criminal fraud and how is no one in jail?

I think they should start to fine the actual asshats in charge. Every paycheck they get the government will take 50% of it until the fine is paid off. It is a joke how we treat these buffoons once they screw up. Another punishment could be that someone gets to poop in a bag, light it on fire, and drop it off on their front step every day for the next 25 years. They would be funny

BTW- I have said this before, make the company completely shut down for 3 days but they must still pay all of their employees during that time.

psu_dad wrote:I've been reading about it, but the more I read, the more confused I get.

I've read some articles that suggested the LIBOR banks were manipulating the interest rates up to screw the average shmo. I've read other articles that suggested the LIBOR banks were manipulating the interest rates down because there were often circumstances wherein that benefited them. One guy on Forbes said that by keeping interest rates low assurances obsèques, LIBOR effectively created a totally artificial economic prosperity bubble. And he basically predicted an economic Zombie Apocalypse when LIBOR is replaced and more reasonable (i.e., higher) interest rates are established. And that confused me even more because I thought Federal Reserve manipulation was keeping interest rates low in the U.S. on purpose, not LIBOR.

This is beyond my knowledge of economics. And it doesn't help that 10 economists will give you 10 different answers. It makes my hair hurt.

Bah, like all economic operators, is only a facade because the reality is quite different.

Blue&White wrote:6 or so years ago JPMC was caught red handed with fraud involving mortgages. Hard to believe, but it happened. As a result, they had to pay a $25B fine. As part of the settlement, the Feds agreed that JPMC could reduce the fine by offering loan forgiveness to customers underwater. For every dollar they gave to consumers their debt to the government would be reduced by that amount.

Seems easy enough, right? So, JPMC did what you would expect them to do - they started to forgive loans. There was only one small catch. They didn't forgive loans they actually held. Instead they forgave loans that had been sold to other companies. And they wrote that money off against what they owed the Feds. And no, I'm not making this up.

This reads like something I could have written because I have the same questions: how is this not criminal fraud and how is no one in jail?

Turns out that Credit Suisse pulled the exact same shit and gave people relief on mortgages that they had sold to 3rd parties. You have to read all the way down to paragraph 14. The first 13 paragraphs is the New York Times slow walking itself to the epiphany that, just maybe, the justice department wasn't really all that tough on the banks. Say it ain't so. But, once they get around to bringing this up, have no doubt that the Times is suitably outrages. For example, at one point, they say the following:

But letting a bank receive credit for principal forgiveness that others are actually providing is a flaw in this settlement.

I hope people aren't letting their children read this article. That kind of strong language doesn't belong in polite society.

Way to go NYT in getting on top of this story and painting an accurate picture of outright fraud and deceit and how to get away with it. I sure wish they treated the financial services industry the way they treat Trump.

Blue&White wrote:I'm going to sign up for the credit monitoring stuff just to be safe.

This is really unbelievable. Half the country was impacted. Probably more. I know it's only a mere 44% of the population but that total number includes children. When you narrow the scope to only people with credit cards and who buy stuff, I suspect the impacted number is well over 50%.

Any chance Equifax lied about the breach and is now making tons of money on the people paying to have their credit monitored? I am assuming it isn't free. It seems to me that Equifax should offer something free since they are the ones who screwed up. I have zero choice when it comes to Equifax using my information!